Library

Imagine a library with no walls, and where the whole University is reservoir of knowledge. I imagine Karlshochschule is exactly like this. The centrally located library forms the heart of the University, and spaces for reading and studying can be found throughout the entire campus, and are available to all students and visitors.

This means you're always surrounded by knowledge, and everywhere on the campus there are places where you can simply read, or dream about foreign cultures, or think about new ideas.

The library comprises nearly 15,000 items as well as a range of print journals and is generally open to all interested parties. External visitors can use the library during the opening hours.

Contact:
Karlshochschule International University
Library
Karlstraße 36 - 38
76133 Karlsruhe
Phone: +49 721 48095 318
library(at)karlshochschule.de

 

NOTE: Please always observe the current Guide to use of the Karlshochschule Library opening hours, Service and Lending times will be communicated regularly via update here on the library homepage. 

Guide to library use Summer Term 2024

A - Z

Copies of each Bachelor's and Master's thesis until 2018, which has been rated accordingly very good are available in the library for viewing. The theses could be requested at the library desk during the lending times. Viewing of the theses takes place exclusively in the quite study area of the library and ends at the end of the lending time (library desk). The theses with submission until 2015 can be researched in the online catalogue. The provision of theses view copys with submission from 2019 is provided password protected as a digital copy in the Infopool of the library of Karlshochschule. The copyright for all originals of the attached pictures, plans or the like is held solely by the author of the respective thesis. Any duplication is forbidden.

Please return the books within the circulation times at the library or service desk, or use the return box at front of the library.

In order to borrow a library book, you will require your Karlshochschule student ID card. Books of which several copies are at hand can be kept for a duration of two weeks. A prolongation of this time is possible as long as no other reservation has been made for the book in question. Certain books ("Präsenzbestand") can only be lent out overnight and weekend, to be returned the following work day. Books can be returned at the Library Desk during the lending times. Journals and Bachelor Thesis are exempt from loan.

The Karlshochschule has purchased a campus license for the software "Citavi for Windows - Reference Management System and Knowledge Organization". Employees and students of our university can use this high-performance program for their studies, teaching, and research at their workspaces and at home. Citavi supports students and researchers in all stages of their work with literature management and organization of knowledge. The Campus license allows students and employees of the Karlshochschule to use the full version Citavi free of charge. Citavi permits you to organize your literature, research in technical, subject-specific databases and library catalogues, to replenish literary content, to collect quotations, organize knowledge, draft texts, plan tasks, and automatically create bibliographies in varying citation styles. The latest version is Citavi 6. Support for the Citavi program can be accessed in the "Tutorials" section. Get your Citavi Campus License now.

The database info system Datenbank-Infosystem (DBIS), as mentioned above, provides you with access to all open scientific databases, as well to such which are solely licensed by Karlshochschule.
The databases are organized by topic and can be sorted by database type. If you wish to have access to the University's licensed databases, follow the link "Datenbanken" on the library's homepage and click on "Sammlungen" to the left. Then proceed to "Lizenzierte Datenbanken", where you will be presented with listings of all databases.

EBSCO Business Source Premier (BSP)comprises full texts concerning all economy fields, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accountancy, finance and business. Additional full text contents consist of market analyses, industry reports, country reports, company profiles, and SWOT analyses. Within the entire University, the database can be openly accessed, access outside of the university via VPN admissions (Virtual Private Network). You can find the Business Source Premier database via the Datenbank-Informationssystem (DBIS) or on BSP.

The Political Science Complete (PSC) contains full text from more than 520 journals, as well as indexing and abstracts for more than 2,900 titles (including recognized scholarly journals), including many single-issue publications. The database also includes more than 340 full-text reference works and monographs and more than 36,000 full-text conference documents, including those from the International Political Science Association. The database is freely accessible within the university. For use outside the university, a connection to the university's network must be established via VPN (Virtual Private Network). Users can access the Business Source Premier database through the Database Information System (DBIS) or directly through the link to the PSC

Electronic journals are listed in the Electronic Journal Library (EZB), which offers access to full texts of eJournals. The Electronic Journals Library is a service to facilitate the use of scholarly journals on the internet. It offers a fast, structured and unified interface to access full-text articles online. It comprises thousands of titles from all areas of research, some of them are available online only. The EZB contains journals, which are provided by aggregators and journals which are accessible free of charge to anyone. urthermore, the participating libraries provide their users access to the journals they subscribe to. The journals are presented in lists sorted by research area. The availability of full-text access is indicated by traffic-light symbols according to the license situation of each member library. Some journals in the EZB are marked as a hybrid journal. That means that this journals can contain some freely available articles (Open Access). In the EZB itself it is NOT possible to search for articles, but only for the journal title, which then links to the respective homepages of the journals. For an article search, the Subject Databases or Article Databases are available, accessible via the Database Information System (DBIS).

The library offers a range of electronic resources (databases, e-Journals). When using licensed databases and electronic media provided by Karlshochschule, the respective license and copyright regulations must be complied with. Please follow the Terms of use and access information for electronic media.

Essay databases allow you to browse for journal articles on specific topics and consequently find a selection of papers containing said articles. However, you will not immediately find their full texts. The essay databases can be accessed through the Datenbank-Informationssystem (DBIS).

The Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB) is one of the world's largest databases in which you can find journals, serial titles, newspapers, databases, yearbooks, etc., everything that was and is published periodically in print or electronic form and is held in German and Austrian libraries. The ZDB also lists the holdings of more than 4,000 German and Austrian libraries for the titles. The ZDB does not list individual articles, only journal titles!
An example for the use of the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB): Neither in the databases nor via the Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB) is there access to the text of an article - What to do now?

Media that is found neither in our library nor in any other library in Karlsruhe can be ordered by other German libraries through interlibrary loan. Books and copies can be requested. The condition for an interlibrary loan is that the requested publication belongs to the providing library. The Online Interlibrary Loan can be accessed through the link on the website itself (Interlibrary Loan Order Instruction). If any problems arise, kindly fill out the Interlibrary Loan Form which should be sent via email to library(at)karlshochschule.de or submitted to the Library desk. The fee for an interlibrary loan amounts to € 1,50. The delivery of books can last between 2-4 weeks, while that of the article copy can last from a couple of days to 2 weeks. Should the order arrive at our library, the interested party will be notified via email. The books and articles can be loaned exclusively from the library desk according to the borrowing and returning periods. We take great care of the delivery and return of interlibrary loans. The loan period is usually four weeks minus about three days for the return period. Renewals are only sometimes available on request. TANs are available in the library at lending times or can be requested via E-mail with the subject "TAN request" at library(at)karlshochschule.de

The library has a number of print journals. Journals are generally not available for loan. A short-term loan in the house during the loan time is possible. For this, kindly leave your student card at one of the desks. The journals must be returned no later than 5pm at the service desk. For access to archived journals previous issues, please ask at the library desk or by mail to library(at)karlshochschule.de. Electronic journals can be searched for through the Electronic Journals Library – EZB.

Journal rankings provide you with an overview as to which papers possess a high scientific rank in a certain field of expertise. There are different ways of constructing such a ranking, an important criterion being the Impact Factor (IF) of a journal. An IF is determined by the number of times the corresponding paper is cited in other journals. The most renowned Journal Rankings are the "Science Citation Index" (medicine, technology and science), the "Social Science Citation Index" (humanities), and the "Arts and Humanities Citation Index“ of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). These rankings are not uncontroversial and liable to pay costs. In addition there are further rankings which are determined through diverse criteria and are accessible free of charge throughout the web. Journal Rankings

JSTOR is an interdisciplinary archive of scientific journals. Karlshochschule enjoys access to about 300 journals of the business sector, the humanities and the sociology field of the first year, up to a "Moving Wall" two to five years before the current one. The database can be openly accessed throughout the University, access outside of the university via VPN admissions (Virtual Private Network), access details can be obtained either via the DBIS or directly via www.jstor.org.

The Karlsruher Virtuelle Katalog (KVK) allows you to research in library and bookstore catalogues throughout the world. As such, they are able to simultaneously comb through a majority of different scientific libraries in Germany.

The library's inventory can be looked up via the following link: Karlsruhe Library Portal. How to find library media? – Manual Catalogue.

The Library Regulations of the Karlshochschule International University document the general rules and usage rules, diligence and replacement obligations, regulate the registration and lending, it defines the admission to use and lending, the user groups and their loan periods, the handling of the various library media and the Interlibrary loan. Download here and in the Infopool. A printed version is also available in the library.

Librarian

Mandy Rosenberg

mrosenberg(at)karlshochschule.org

We have a systematic arrangement of books by subject. We use our Library System to provide thematic access to the freehand shelving. The aim of a systematic arrangement is to gather books on a subject in one place. The Library System is continuously being developed. Here you can find the current version of the Library System. The location of the books on the shelf, the "signature" can be researched by searching the Library Catalog.

The loan period amounts to 2 weeks, renewals are possible, provided that there are no pending reservations.

The Literature Module for the Master's Program is arranged separately by semesters and modules. The latest version of the library classification system can be seen here:

 

Karlshochschule stock currently contains nearly 15,000 items as well as a range of print journals.

The movies in stock are found in the showcase in the rear part of the quite study area. For borrowing, you take out the empty case of the desired film and bring it to the library desk where the DVD will be handed out. It is possible for movies to be loaned only during the lending times at the library counter. You can borrow the movie for up to 2 weeks, extensions are possible. All movies can be searched for at the online catalogue.

To improve the provision of electronic information at German universities, research institutions and scientific libraries in a sustainable manner, the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft" ("German Research Council") has financed their acquisition of national licenses as of 2004. The aim of this initiative is to guarantee scientists, students and scientifically interested individuals free access to databases, digital compendiums, and electronic journals. Again, you can gain access to the subscribed offers of Karlshochschule via the Datenbank-Informationssystem (DBIS).

Prolongation for loaned media can be requested via email library(at)karlshochschule.de, phone +49 721 48095-318, or asked about at the library desk. Renewals are possible at the earliest 2 days before the loan period expires. Renewals are not possible when the medium is reserved. We grant up to 5 renewals on a loan copy. Overnight and weekend loans will not be extended.

You can always make suggestions concerning books to be purchased. In order to do so, please contact us either via an E-mail to library(at)karlshochschule.de or by filling out the following form: Purchase Suggestion. You can hand in the form at the library or send it as E-mail attachment.

The Karlshochschule library offers a number of electronic media (databases, eJourals). When using all databases and e-media subject to licensing provided by Karlshochschule, the respective license and copyright conditions must be observed.

Preregistration for loaned media can be requested via email library(at)karlshochschule.de, phone +49 721 48095-318, or asked about at the library desk. You will be notified by email, as soon as the first copy of the reserved book is available. The reservation will be held and be valid up to one week, after which the book will be returned to its shelf.

The reference library includes media that is available to all users at all times and can't be borrowed except in certain cases (see "Loan"). These books can be recognized by the yellow sticker "Präsenzbestand" on the book spine. A short-term loan is possible only on campus. To do this, kindly register the medium and leave your student card at one of the desks. The medium should be returned no later than 5pm at the service desk.

A reserve shelf for a semester contains documents and media put together by lecturers, all relevant to their courses. They can be accessed by all at all times. However, they cannot be borrowed for home use. These reserve shelves are located in the front section of the library. 

Statista is one of the world's largest statistics portals. The statistics database is the basis for a fast and comprehensive search for figures, data and facts with instant access to statistics. Statista conveniently bundles statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources on four platforms: English, French, German and Spanish. The academic citation function allows the original source to be automatically played out in five internationally standardized citation forms.

Access to Statista can be obtained via the Database Information System (DBIS) or directly via www.statista.com.

A TAN is a transaction number that is valid as a "one-time password" for exactly one online interlibrary loan order. The TAN must be entered into the order form to complete an online interlibrary loan order and verifies the order in the interlibrary loan portal. After submitting the order, the TAN is validated. TANs can be requested from the library by email with the subject "TAN Request".

Should you wish to use the electronic offers of the University (e.g. e-journals, various databases, SPSS) at home, you can connect with Karlshochschule via VPN (Virtual Private Network) and make your PC part of the campus network.

Get step by step tutorial for setting up the OpenVPN on Windows and Mac Computers via Infopool IT.

Periodicals

The periodicals in the library are listed in the Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB). You can search through this database when you are looking for a particular serial title and would like to know which library in Germany can provide it. The ZDB is one of the world’s largest databases for journals, newspapers, yearbooks, monographic series and other serial publications, everything that was and is being published periodically in printed or electronic form  from all countries, in all languages, without time restrictions, in printed, electronic or digitised form. Currently more than 4.000 libraries in Germany and Austria catalogue serial titles and local holdings information in the ZDB.  The ZDB currently contains more than 1,8 million title records, of these are e.g. 61.000 newspapers and 191.000 e-journals. It does not contain contents, i.e. journal articles, but only journal titles.

Furthermore, via the Electronic Journals Library (EZB) you can access the full contents of many scientific periodicals. For titles which are not available in the EZB, the ZDB will tell you which library can lend you the print issue.

Searching for journal articles

In order to search for articles on a particular topic, you first need to search in databases of articles. You can find these via the Database Information System (DBIS). Here you can click on the desired subject area and then sort the databases according to their "database type". This lists all the article databases for that particular subject area and you can search within them for articles.

Once you have found an article that interests you and the title of the periodical it is in, you can first check to see if the full text is accessible via the Electronic Journals Library (EZB).

If this does not provide you with the full text of the article, you can use the Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB) to find out which library has a print copy of the required periodical and then request a loan from that library.